Ukraine suspends military cooperation with Russia

KIEV, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Yarema on Friday said his country is suspending military cooperation with Russia over Moscow's troops movements near the Ukrainian border.

"The prime minister decided to cease military cooperation with the Russian Federation," Yarema said during a meeting with local reporters.

Although the two ex-Soviet neighbours have very close links in the military-industrial complex, Kiev is forced to stop supplying defense goods to Russia as they could be used against Ukraine if military tensions arise, Yarema said.

To partially compensate for potential damages from losing the Russian market, Ukraine will seek ways to redirect the export of military-technical products to eastern countries, Yarema added.

According to local experts, Ukraine's military exports, including arms, radars and engines for helicopters and planes, accounts for over half of Russia's military imports.

Ukrainian military analyst Sergey Zgurets estimates Kiev may lose around 600 million U.S. dollars a year from the suspended military cooperation with Moscow.

Meanwhile, the pause will cause 2 billion dollars' worth of damage to the Russian side, which would be unable to perform military-technical contracts with third countries without the Ukraine-made components of military goods, the analyst said.